5/5

posted Jun-06-2013

"I LOVE HALF-PRICE BOOKS!!! Love, love, love them! They have an amazing selection of what seems to be every version of every book on the planet...and they're so cheap! I have gotten rare special edition versions of books that cost $70 regularly for $20. I can satisfy the craving to read new books without forking up $16 for a book I may or may not like. Prices for the normal book typically range from $3 to $10. The cheapest books on their website are usually in poorer quality but they are readable and that's all that matters to me (unless I'm seeking a collectable book). They also have audio books at least half-off regular price. This store seriously makes my inner nerd so happy :) I cannot say enough about Half-Price Books. I absolutely recommend them, and if there are any physical stores in your area be sure to visit them - there are always hidden gems on their shelves :) The only downside to HPB is that most the books on their website come from different sellers, so expect different shipping fees for each seller. Oh yeah - I just read everyone's reviews regarding selling books to them: I tried selling books to them and also felt I didn't get as much as the books were worth. However, buying books, movies and CDs from them has me remaining a happy and satisfied customer. I would avoid selling to them, though. "

This review was modified by pumpkinlatte on June 06 2013 04:40:52 PM

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1/5

posted Jun-10-2012

"Took about 200 books in. Had to wait half an hour in their store for them to offer me $10. So I spent the gas to go there and hauled 4 heavy boxes in and wasted 30 minutes in their store perusing their ill-gotten goods.
I didn't expect to make a killing but $10 shows an unusual amount of greed on their part.
Do not make this mistake. Just donate them."

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1/5

posted Apr-23-2012

"I purchased a book from a seller supposedly in California. It took over two weeks to arrive. It was supposed to be a hard bound copy of a book but was an "International Edition" printed on extremely thin paper. This was a $38 book ! When I contacted the seller he said I should have clicked through and looked at all the details. This book was listed under the hard cover ISBN ! At the time I ordered, there was no international edition badge but conveniently the seller added one the same day I contacted him although it was still listed under hardcover. I returned the book using their "100% satisfaction guaranteed" policy although I had to pay the return shipping.

I finally got an email saying "return denied" due to the "words in my return note". What ??? I did not say anything in the note except why I was returning it. No insults or even harsh language. And now you're going to just keep my book. Don't ever shop at this store. Worst online ripoff in recent memory."

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1/5

posted Feb-20-2012

"They should call it half price crooks. I love shopping there but will never sell my books to them again. I brought it around 30 books that included the popular twighlight series, nicholas sparks and lauren conrad. All in great condition. I probably spent around $360 on all of them, read them once and they offered me $7. That is less than a price of one new????"

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1/5

posted Feb-01-2012

"I wish I had read the reviews before I took 5 boxes of books (about 100 books)to the Highland Park, IL store. They paid $35 which was literally pennies per book and since I had brought them from Michigan and was suffering with back pains I didn't feel like loading the books back into the boxes and reloading the car. When I asked how the books were priced, the answer was vague. I'd have been better off donating the books to Goodwill and taking a charitable tax deduction based on how much Goodwill sells books for, which is more than I was paid by Half Price Books. I wouldn't shop there either after my experience. There are plenty of other used book stores."

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1/5

posted Jul-05-2011

"I had a horrible experience at the Highland Park location on Lake-Cook Road last weekend. I carried in two boxes of books and looked around for the counter to sell books. I saw a very young employee standing in front having coffee. I asked him and he replied very rudely, "There's a big red sign RIGHT THERE!" as he pointed across the room at a counter that I did not obviously see. I sarcastically thanked him for pointing it out to me. I turned in my books and waited approximately 15 minutes for an offer. They offered me $8.00. When I asked to see an itemized list, there were only 6 books listed! I thought this was very dishonest given their prices and being that my books were newer, read only once and shelved. I had them box them right away and took them back to my car. I would rather donate them! I was dissapointed given that I had visited the Niles location on Touhy and had a great experience buying books. I will never visit the HP location ever! They were very rude!"

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1/5

posted Dec-30-2010

"It was a horrible experience. I brought in over a hundred video cassette tapes. At this current time, their value is practically nothing, however this was quite a few years ago. The man behind the counter dumped all of my video tapes out of the box and offered me seven dollars for them. Since they were mixed in with everything else behind the counter, I felt like it would be too much to refuse their offer since all of my video tapes were mixed in with everything else. I think that they do this on purpose to make the person feel "funny" for asking for your stuff back. I got seven dollars for over one hundred video tapes which averages less than a dime a video that they offered me. The week after I sold them my videos,I went into the store and saw that they were selling the videos for fifty cents a piece. Dishonest! This company will go out of business if they continue in this way!"

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1/5

posted Jul-12-2010

"I've read some of these past reviews and all of them say the same thing: the organization is not honest with their pricing and selling.

I found this out to be true after I sold about 16 bestselling books and 7 magazines to Half Priced books. I thought I would get a good deal off these books, but I didn't. In return, I got $5.50. I accepted the offer, but regretted it later. I could have gotten a better amount if I sold them at garage sale. I am never selling or buying books at Half Priced Books again because of being cheated out on this book deal."

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1/5

posted Jun-12-2010

"Don't even think about selling used books to this store. It took more than a half hour for staff to offer me $5 for a box of hardback books -- about 7% of what they will resell the books for in the store. A total waste of time. I won't go back."

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1/5

posted Mar-22-2009

"I brought in a couple of boxes of decently good books (I have bought used books all my life, I have a good grasp of this). My impression was that the kid at their buying station had never been involved with books in her entire life, and had been through some kind of 2 week "training" course to buy. The off was low, with the better books in the reject pile (which, I might add, they wouldn't let me keep. They are all or nothing when you sell). I watched her puzzle over books by Ian Rankin, Charles De Lint, and the like, putting them in seemingly random piles according to some unknown sorting system. Then the off ended up averaging about .50 for hardbacks and .10 for paperbacks (current science fiction, 2009 mysteries, etc). She refused to let me have the stuff back that was in the reject pile; when I insisted, she split them off, sent me off into the store for another 15 minutes, then called me back with an offer that was much as the first, minus exactly $1 for the pile (1-15 hardcovers, 15 or so paperbacks) that I wanted to keep. I decided to pass, took my books to a University District independent (small) bookstore, and got an offer for 3 times the amount.

The problem here is that the kids doing the buying are not even remotely book people, don't have a very wide base of book knowledge, and are stuck in a strict, easy-to-teach half good book buyer education. Don't blame the buyer kids, but I don't think I'll ever sell to them again."

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1/5

posted Sep-19-2007

"They always list items out of stock. You will always find stuff unavailable. Don't know why? Like a site without superviser or management group."

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1/5

posted Nov-27-2006

"A bad experience. I will never sell books there or shop there ever again! I was moving and brought nine boxes of books. The staff went through everything so fast and offered me thirty dollars for all nine boxes. There were some good books in there! Most of the books were already taken out of the boxes and I felt obliged to just take the money. Later, I noticed that about four of the boxes were behind the manager's desk. I asked about them, and the manager was very intimidating. He said they were for "recycling." I though this was very suspicious, as they hadn't mentioned it when they quoted me the thirty dollars. He very gruffly told me I could take the thirty dollars and the books, or take the money and leave them the other four boxes. Sensing a scam, I said I would take the boxes. When I left, I felt used and cheated. I know that they were going to sell the books, not recycle them. I felt they were hidden behind the desk purposely. I don't trust them. Thirty dollars was far below what the nine boxes of books were worth. I wrote a letter to their headquarters but never heard back. I have since sent a second letter."

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1/5

posted Feb-18-2005

"The store no longer sells books through the website. The B&M stores will routinely offer nickels and dimes for books they resell for $6-$8 apiece. I have seen "recycled" books go straight into the dumpster and "donated" books priced and shelved. This is not an honest organization. Stay away."

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